Leigh Leopards reveal plans to let fans witness disciplinary process

Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont has revealed plans to let fans in on how the club tackle disciplinary issues in a first for the sport.

The Super League disciplinary process is always one of the most talked-about topics each week with fans awaiting the Match Review Panel’s verdict on a Monday, whilst Tuesday night Operational Rule Tribunals are always highly anticipated.

Now, fans of Leigh Leopards could be set to learn how the club decide whether they will or will not appeal suspensions, with the potential to even see how cases would be presented.

That revelation came in a recent video update posted on the club website where club owner Derek Beaumont discussed membership sales, including the strong sales of the Gold Plus membership.

Costing an extra £120 from the Gold membership, Gold Plus grants fans an array of extras including Academy membership with £10 per month going straight to the academy, and free Leopards TV as opposed to the discounted rate of £2.99.

The Academy incentive is huge news and Beaumont even revealed that an extra member of staff has now been hired based on those sales which is brilliant for the club and rugby league generally.

However, it was the plans that were revealed for Leopards TV that will catch the attention of many fans with the revelation that content such as behind-the-scenes footage on how the club challenges disciplinary issues will be included.

Leigh Leopards considering allowing fans to witness disciplinary process

Explaining why the pricepoint was introduced, the Leigh owner explained: “Really, the Gold Plus was about helping the academy but giving it some more value we added Leopards TV.

“I’m going to start channelling all my podcasts or any kind of talk that is done through Leopards TV.”

Explaining what they would entail, Beaumont confirmed: “Me and Mike will do a Review of the Year again next week and there are other things that we’ll let people get involved with and into the insights and behind the scenes.

“When we start getting into the season and we get any disciplinary issues or Match Review Panel issues, we’re going to actually film the process of how we analyse that, what we look at and how we put that into a case.

“Then we’ll literally show us presenting and defending that case so people can really get into the nuts and bolts of understanding what the club is.”

How much the club will actually be able to show is to be seen but given how many fans are intrigued by the disciplinary process, Leigh might see fans from rival clubs subscribe to Leopards TV if the content is as tell-all as suggested.

Late last season, Leigh Leopards unsuccessfully challenged a one-match ban handed to John Asiata but in future cases, the club could disclose information on how they build their case.